Motown

Publisher's WeeklyThe second installment of Estleman's Detroit trilogy ( Whiskey River ) is terrific: fast, intricate and often funny. Choreographing the movements leading to the August 1966 Detroit riots, Estleman focuses on three main characters: Rick Amery, an ex-cop hired to spy on a Ralph Nader-like consumer advocate; inspector Lew Canada, trying to prevent a war between the Mafia and black gangs, and a likely race riot; and Quincy Springfield, numbers racketeer and ''blind pig'' (after-hours club) operator. But the author does not stint on minor characters, and they, too, leap off the page. A crippled mob boss resolves to oust ''the coloreds'' from the rackets while his exiled father schemes to reclaim the family business; there's also a retired newsman right off The Front Page , plus a Jimmy Hoffa-type labor leader. Set pieces are no less than stunning, notably a publicity stunt to embarrass GM chairman James Roche, and a big black funeral. Period details work wonderfully as well: the clothes, cars, songs, political references, even the price of lamb chops at the A & P are right on the money.

Library JournalMotown is Motor City, the Detroit of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, the Detroit of street hogs, blind pigs, union bosses, and tough cops. It's a rough town, rife with dirt, crime, and corruption, its steamy streets redolent of whiskey, blood, and sweat. This is the second volume of a trilogy ( Whiskey River , Bantam, 1990, was the first) tracing the history of the city from the bottom up. It's the summer of 1966. A Nader-like consumer advocate is just starting to take on the automobile industry. The ghetto is near to boiling. The mayor has the presidential itch, and a local mobster is making a bid to take over the black numbers racket. The story follows the actions of a former police lieutenant as he becomes a consumer advocate, and a black entrepreneur as he becomes the pillar of Detroit's black resistance. Is it good? Listen, Estleman knows crime fiction in ways that Bo can only dream about.-- David B. Mattern, Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville